The present study aimed to evaluate the effects of adjunctive corticosteroid treatment on Pneumocystis jiroveci pneumonia in patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). A literature search of relevant randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published prior to March 2014 was performed using a number of websites, including PubMed, EMbase and Ovid, using the following keywords: Corticosteroids, glucocorticoide, cortisol, corticosterone, HIV/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, P. jiroveci pneumonia, and PCP. All RCTs investigating the use of adjunctive corticosteroids for the treatment of P. jiroveci pneumonia in patients with HIV were evaluated in the present study. Stata 11.0 software was used to calculate the relative risk (RR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) following tests for consistency and potential biases. Six RCTs investigating a total of 548 patients were evaluated in the present meta-analysis. The experimental groups (n=270) demonstrated a mortality rate of 15.2% (n=41); as compared with 27.7% (n=77) in the control groups (n=278). The present meta-analysis demonstrated that the RR and 95% CI were 0.55 and 0.35-0.85 (P<0.05), respectively, following treatment with adjunctive corticosteroids. This result indicated that patients in the experimental group had a 0.55 times reduced risk of mortality compared with the control group. Therefore, the results of the present meta-analysis demonstrated that the administration of adjunctive corticosteroids for the treatment of P. jiroveci pneumonia in patients with HIV may reduce the mortality rate of patients in the early phase of the disease.
Keywords: Pneumocystis jiroveci pneumonia; adjunctive corticosteroids; human immunodeficiency virus; meta-analysis.